Like it or not, keeping your employees happy is a big part of the job of being an entrepreneur. If people want to work in your organisation, they’ll stick around, and you won’t have to foot hefty recruitment bills. The key to good staff retention is knowing what workers want in 2021.
Part of getting them to stay is transforming the office into somewhere they want to be every day. But what do workers actually want from their work spaces? That’s the million-pound question. Fortunately, we have answers. Employees have been providing feedback to employers for years, meaning that we now have an excellent understanding of what they love.
What Workers Want in 2021: A Stimulating Environment
Workers don’t want to work in pods in bland, grey offices. They want to inhabit spaces that lift their spirits and inspire their creativity. For this reason, we are seeing more offices employ relaxed and creative designs. Research indicates that when offices choose this design language, it fosters creativity and improves overall office productivity.
A Clean Environment
Dirty offices are a big no-no. Employees want spaces that are free from grime, germs, and allergens. Going to a filthy bathroom that smells bad every day is a big reason to leave the firm.
If you haven’t done so yet, start investing in office cleaning. Keeping everything shipshape is a way of showing your workers that you respect them. Colleagues will appreciate that you took the time to consider their needs.
Natural Light
If you’re not providing natural light already, you should be. Natural light improves employee morale while enhancing productivity at the same time. In addition, workers who spend large proportions of the day basking in natural light are less likely to get sick and take absences.
Getting more natural light into your office is usually relatively easy. However, if you are struggling, you might want to consider installing skylights. You may also want to move premises if there really is no way of increasing daylight levels.
What Workers Want in 2021 – Communal Areas
Employees want a mix of quiet spaces for work and communal areas for collaborative work. Communal areas are essential for cross-fertilisation of ideas, enabling employees to develop new concepts that drive your business forwards.
What Workers Want in 2021 – A Good Location
Employers don’t always spend much time considering the location of their offices through the eyes of their colleagues. It’s all about prestige and access to clients. However, it also matters a great deal for colleagues too. They want to be able to get into the office on major transport links. They don’t want to have to go out of their way every morning on the way to work.
Prime locations are often clustered close to transport links. They are also near other firms offering complementary or rival services.
Remote Work Options
Millennials don’t like the idea of going into the office. Many would prefer a remote working setup if they could get away with it. Companies, therefore, should look for ways to offer hybrid approaches where workers travel to the office a few days a week and then work from home for the rest of the time. Are you in the know about what workers want in 2021. If not, now is the time to do your research and put things into place.
